The Spectator. The Text edited and annotated by G. Gregory
-Smith. With Introductory Essay by Austin Dobson. (J. M. Dent.) —The Spectator. With Introduction and Notes by G. A. Aitken. (John C. Nimmo. 7s. net.)—It is a good sign for the taste and intelligence of a generation which is sometimes said to be given up to frivolous reading, that two editions of the Spectator should be appearing simultaneously, each with an ample furnishing of notes, and each extending to the length of eight volumes. Both are printed from the " First Collected Edition," of which Vols. I. and II. appeared in January, and III. and IV. in April, 1712. The daily issue ceased in December, 1712, and Vols. V., VI., and VII. appeared in January, 1713. Addison renewed the publica- tion in June, 1714, and carried it on to December in the same year. These supplementary papers formed the eighth volume, -which appeared in 1715. Mr. Gregory Smith has reproduced the original with identical spelling, punctuation, italics, and capital letters, and he has, we think, done well. Some of the papers are, it is true, of a kind which we enjoy, or, it may be, fail to enjoy, whatever the form in which they appear ; others lose much by • being modernised. The humour is subtle and evanescent, and owes more than one would think till the experiment has been tried, to the fashion of its appearance. Mr. Aitken gives us some interesting particulars which we do not remember to have seen before about the circulation of the Spectator. It must have nearly reached four thousand, for when the halfpenny stamp was put on the tax came to £20 a week, representing a circulation of more than sixteen hundred, and this was but half of what it had been in the untaxed days. Mr. Aitken reviews the history of the Spectator's predecessors and successors, and gives us what is a generally useful and informing introduction. In the other edition both preface and introductory essay are all that could be desired.
The annotation of both editions is adequate, without being too copious or too laboriously minute.
Previous page
